1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an information device that is enabled to process various kinds of information, and at the same time, promptly execute processing according to specific starting-up conditions such as only reference to data from a power-off state or a suspend state, a control method of the information device and a recording medium storing a control program therefor.
2. Description of Related Art
An information device such as an information electric home appliance including a personal computer of the desk top type or the notebook type (hereinafter generally referred to as a personal computer), a set-top box (hereinafter abbreviated as an STB), and the like has a configuration in which a processor and devices such as a display, various kinds of interface sections, various kinds of input/output devices and various kinds of memory are connected by a chipset having a bus control function. In such a personal computer or an STB, each functional section is put in a pause state without power supply if no information processing is executed. The pause state can be divided into a power-off state in which a power switch is turned off and no information processing operation is conducted at all, and a suspend sate in which power saving is intended by storing only data for enabling resumption of information processing while the information processing is suspended or discontinued and turning off only an operational power of a processor or the like.
Then, the information processing can be resumed by turning on the power switch to start up the information device in the case of resuming from the power-off state, and by starting up from peripheral apparatuses of the processor in the case of resuming from the suspend state. A man-machine interface including an input operating device such as a keyboard or a mouse, and a communication apparatus or the like for performing data communication by connecting with wire lines or wireless lines such as infrared rays or electric waves are included in the peripheral apparatuses. In addition, a personal computer of the notebook type can also be configured such that, when a display is folded while a power switch is on, the personal computer goes into the suspend state, and when the display is opened thereafter, the personal computer goes into a normal operation mode.
In the above-mentioned information device, transition in operational state is made between the OFF state in which a power switch is turned off, the suspend state (a sleep state) in which information processing is suspended or discontinued, and the normal operation mode that is an active state for executing information processing as shown in FIG. 4. That is, when the power switch is turned on, the information device goes from the OFF state to the normal operation mode to enable execution of information processing, and when the power switch is turned off in that state, the information device goes to the OFF state. In addition, the information device goes to the normal operation mode by a wakeup event in the suspend state, and if information processing is not executed for a predetermined period of time, the information device goes from the normal operation mode to the suspend state.
FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of conventional resume processing and startup processing, with which an operational power of a CPU (processor) is turned on and a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is started up (B5), by a System Power ON (B2) for turning on a power switch to start up in an OFF state (B1) in which a power switch is off, or when a wake-up is performed by an occurrence of a resume event (B4) in a suspend state (B3) in which information processing is suspended or discontinued.
Then, the processing determines whether or not a resume event has occurred in the suspend state (B6), and if a resume event has not occurred, since system start-up would be by turning on the power switch, the system goes to a normal operation state (B11) in accordance with a normal start-up sequence of the BIOS (B7) and a start-up sequence of an OS (operation system) (B8). In addition, if a resume event has occurred in the suspend state, the system goes to the normal operation (B11) in accordance with a normal resume sequence of the BIOS (B9) and a resume sequence of the OS (B10).
Also known is a system for referencing to data or the like processed or managed in an information device from an external apparatus such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) for personal use and updating such data. In this case, processing of reference to or update of data is performed after connecting both the apparatuses by wire lines using a connector and a cable, or connecting them by wireless lines using infrared rays or electric waves, and bringing the information device to the normal operation state considering that start-up from the OFF state or a resume event has occurred from the suspend state of the information device.
In an active state in which a power switch is on, an information device such as a personal computer, or an STB executes various kinds of information processing when put into a normal operation mode as shown in FIG. 4 with operational power supplied to all functional sections such as a processor. In this normal operation mode, power is consumed in each functional section even if data processing is not actually executed. Sounds are also generated by the rotation of a cooling fan. Thus, in the case where information processing is not executed for a predetermined time, the supply of operational power to functional sections consuming large power such as a processor is stopped and the cooling fan is also stopped, and the information device goes to a suspend state for holding state information such that information processing operation can be resumed.
In order to start up the information device from this suspend state, it is set to wake up by a resume event, then, in order to return it to an operation state of before the suspend state, it is necessary to wake up every functional section that has been set to sleep. To do so, it generally takes one minute or more. In addition, since the number of functional sections that are set to sleep increases with the improvement of functions of an information device, time required for the wake-up becomes longer.
In the case where data of an information device is only referred to using a Personal Data Assistant (PDA) for personal use, a cellular phone or the like, since a data transfer rate is increased, reference of data in a short time is possible. However, since time required for the wake-up of the information device from the suspend state is extremely long, there is a problem in that overall time required for data reference is prolonged.